Welcome

Sylvia Milne welcomed everyone—both new and returning directors—to the meeting of the Board of Directors of the Glebe Annex Community Association (GACA). Sylvia introduced Craig Kamcke and Katie Burkholder.

Approval of the agenda

Darlene asked to add a discussion about the graffiti at the government buildings to the agenda.

Maeve put forward a motion to approve the agenda; it was seconded by Peggy.

Presentation: Rank Choice Voting

Sylvia introduced Katie Burkholder, a representative from Ottawa 1, 2, 3, which is a group that is trying to introduce rank choice voting (or instant run-off) to the municipal electoral system. This type of voting, Katie said, would make the election process more issue-oriented and less confrontational. It would also eliminate vote splitting.

She explained that voters would rank their choices first, second, third, etc. When the votes are counted, if a candidate received 50% of the votes, that individual would be elected. However, if no one received 50% of the vote, the person with the fewest votes would be dropped and their votes would be transferred to the individuals who received the second vote on each of their ballots. This process would be repeated until one candidate receives 50% of the vote.

There is support for this type of system at both the municipal and provincial levels, Katie said. She explained it would be necessary to hold a referendum in order to change the municipal voting process.

Action: Sylvia will write to the presidents of other community associations encouraging them to contact Ottawa 1, 2, 3.

The group discussed the merits of this type of voting process. They said it is important to get the message out to schools.

Approval of the minutes from the previous meeting

David put forward a motion to approve the amended minutes; it was seconded by Scott.

Business arising from last minutes

Safety audit

Action: Peggy will follow up with Councillor Chernushenko’s office about the community safety audit.

Action: Sylvia will contact David Hole.

Darlene said she has received positive feedback from residents about the changes to the lighting on McLean Street. However, the tree that has been marked for trimming has not yet been trimmed.

Peggy said it would be worthwhile to ask the Councillor’s office about plans for follow-up once the audit results have been implemented.

Action: Darlene will ask residents to write testimonials about the positive changes; these testimonials can be posted to the website.

Action: Sylvia will follow up with Councillor Chernushenko’s office about the tree on McLean Street.

Nomination of new director

Sylvia introduced Craig Kamcke and asked him to speak about his experience and interests.

Sylvia nominated Craig as a Board director; this nomination was seconded by Peggy. All directors were in favour of the motion.

Thanks to retiring directors

Sylvia thanked Morris Rothman and Melanie Cave, two directors who had not sought re-election, for their work on the Board. She added that both had offered to help as needed in the future.

Chris said that he has another person in mind who might be interested in becoming a director. That individual is an event planner, he said.

Election of officers

Chris volunteered for the position of Treasurer and was unanimously installed in that position. Lisa volunteered for the position of Secretary and was unanimously installed in that position.

Sylvia said that Iain is happy to continue on as Vice-President, but would step aside if someone else wanted to take on the role. Darlene nominated Iain to serve as Vice-President; the nomination was seconded by Brenda. The motion passed unanimously.

Peggy nominated Sylvia to serve as President; the nomination was seconded by Lisa. The motion passed unanimously.

Treasurer’s report

Chris said that the Association is in good financial shape with an effective bank balance of $1,009. We will have to pay the GCA for our 2015 memberships, he said. This will be done at their AGM in June/July.

Motion: Chris proposed a motion to pay a one-time membership payment to the GCA at their AGM. This was seconded by Lisa and all were in favour.

Membership report

Brenda said that she has spoken to David about getting more membership cards printed. In 2013, the Association had 83 members. So far, 34 memberships have been sold; 5 are new members and the rest are renewals.

Brenda talked about the idea of having street representatives responsible for canvassing on their blocks. She asked that directors identify someone who would be willing to take on that job for their respective streets. The idea is to keep the task manageable by having each person responsible for only 10 to 15 houses.

Once identified, Brenda will provide those individuals with membership packages. Maeve suggested that it might be helpful for a director to accompany the street rep when he/she is canvassing so that there would be someone there to answer questions about the association.

Action: Peggy and Craig will talk to the brothers who own Abbas about a corporate membership.

Action: Peggy will draft a letter to go to a person she knows who owns buildings in the area and who expressed interest in a corporate membership. She will send the letter to Brenda and Iain for review.

Brenda proposed that the association charge $10 for all memberships sold until the end of June 2015. After that date, the membership fee will be prorated.

Communication/marketing

David said that he distributed about 300 of the 500 brochures that he had printed. The remainder can be used during the membership drive. He will have about 100 membership cards printed at Staples. Scott added that Loudmouth Printing on Catherine Street offers very reasonable printing rates.

Action: Craig will manage Glebe Report article submissions.

Holiday party

The annual holiday party for the directors is scheduled for Wednesday 3 December at the Lieutenant’s Pump on Elgin Street. The owner of the pub has said that he will give the association back 10% of the cost of the party. That money will go into the association’s general account.

After a brief discussion about a possible OMB appeal, Maeve suggested posting a notice in the barrister’s lounge at the court house asking for a volunteer with the relevant experience. She said the University of Ottawa law department is another possible source of expertise.

Action: Sylvia will speak to Morris about what is involved in planning the party in the park. The planning should likely begin in January.

Traffic/safety/security

Peggy asked for someone to volunteer to assist with the traffic file. She said that there is significant work planned for the renewal of bridges on the Queensway; this will result in substantial road work where Bronson and Queensway meet. There are many meetings planned around this issue and she is unable to attend them all.

Action: Craig will assist Peggy with the traffic file.

Parks/beautification/recreation

Sue said there is nothing to report on this file at this time.

Darlene said that, at her condo AGM, they had discussed the issue of the graffiti on the rock wall and in the NRCan parking lot.

Action: Darlene will report the graffiti to the city’s 311 line and will report back to the board in January.

Planning and development

Sylvia told the group that the city is conducting a zoning review of Bronson Avenue. The idea is to make the street livelier and more pedestrian-friendly. The GCA has drafted a motion that said that they were against 6-storey development on the east side of Bronson but fine with it on the west side. Sylvia said she wrote to the GCA and told them that she was not pleased with the distinction being made between the two sides of the street. The GCA removed the portion of the motion that dealt with the east/west distinction.

Sylvia told the group that Scott will attend the FCA meetings during the winter months when Sylvia is away. As well, Bruce Holden from the Lakelander has agreed to be Sylvia’s winter replacement on the city’s pre-application consultations.

Next meeting

The next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday 21 January at 6:30pm in the Meeting Room at the Glebe Community Centre.

Welcome

Sylvia Milne welcomed everyone to the Board of Directors meeting after the summer hiatus.

Approval of the agenda

Sylvia noted that there was an error on the agenda. The GACA Annual General Meeting is scheduled for Wednesday 22 October. The AGM is scheduled to run between 6:30 and 8:30 pm. She added that all three candidates for councillor in our ward have been invited to attend the meeting.

Lisa asked that a discussion of Whole Foods’ Community Outreach be added to the agenda.

Action: Lisa will write the article for the Glebe Report about the AGM; it is due to the editor on 24 October. Darlene asked that the membership drive be mentioned in the article.

Darlene motioned to accept the agenda; David seconded the motion.

Approval of minutes from the previous meeting

Melanie motioned to approve the minutes; Julie seconded the motion.

Business arising from last minutes

Darlene reminded the group that the community clean up is scheduled for Saturday 27 September. People are asked to meet in Dalhousie South Park.

Action: Lisa will send out a reminder about the clean up.

Sylvia said that discussion of the Ottawa Neighbourhood Study, as raised by Chris at the last meeting, will be deferred to the next meeting.

The Board decided to cancel the movie night that had been discussed for September. While the summer party had been an unqualified success, the Board felt that it was too soon to approach sponsors for another event. The Board had agreed that it was best to hold an annual event.

Darlene said that she has not heard from Councillor Chernushenko’s office about the community liaison working group.

Action: Darlene will contact the Councillor’s office about the working group.

The group discussed the fact that trash has been building up in areas around the neighbourhood, particularly around the government buildings and on Lebreton Street.

Action: Julie will make note of areas that are particularly bad and Sylvia will write a letter to the city on behalf of GACA. Darlene suggested that it would be beneficial to include photos with the letter.

New business

Treasurer’s Report

Sylvia, on behalf of Chris, reported that the Association currently has a bank balance of $860. This is after paying the GCA at their AGM a total of $144. The Association raised a total of $116 from donations (less expenses) from the party in the park.

Sylvia said that she has spoken with Chris about the fact that GACA is charged a monthly maintenance fee by the bank. The GCA does not pay this fee. One solution to this problem, Sylvia said, is to open a seniors’ account under her name.

Julie said that it would be worthwhile to speak to the bank and to threaten to switch banks if the fee is not removed. Iain suggested looking into credit unions.

Membership

Darlene reported, on behalf of Brenda, that the Association currently has 83 members; the majority of those memberships will expire at the end of December 2014.

Darlene said that she and Brenda had talked about the idea of having block reps who would each be responsible for selling memberships on their individual blocks. Memberships will also be sold at the clean up and the AGM.

Darlene said it would also be ideal to have a contact on each condo board to help with access to the buildings.

Action: Sylvia will bring copies of the brochure to the Lakelanders’ AGM on 27 October.

Turning to the brochure that Brenda and David had created, David said that he thought there might be too much text in the brochure.

Action: Lisa will revise the brochure copy with the aim of reducing the amount of text.

The group discussed whether it is possible to accept and process membership fees online.

Action: David will see if it is possible to process payments on the current web system.

Decision: Darlene put forward a motion that the brochure be accepted pending editing and layout revision. This motion was seconded by Lisa. All were in favour.

Traffic and security

Sylvia said that Peggy will record the comments written on the large sheet during the party in the park and will share those comments with the group. Peggy said she also wanted to draft letters to the small developers who had attended the party.

Parks

David, reporting on behalf of Sue, said that Sue had been asked by the GCA Parks Committee for an update on the Dalhousie South Park. Melanie said that the seats on the little play structures had been painted, although they had not been sanded first.

Sylvia said that the park is due for an equipment upgrade in 2017. Mary said that there are other parks in the city that are in worse shape than our park; it will be very challenging to get the upgrade date moved forward. She added that the only way to get the date changed is to put pressure on the Councillor. She said that only between $30,000 and $40,000 is needed to replace the play equipment; a total life-cycle renewal costs about $210,000. Mary asked whether it was better to wait for a total life-cycle renewal or to push to get the equipment replaced sooner so that the park is more usable.

Action: Discussion on this item was moved forward to the next Board meeting.

Sylvia said that she had received an official acknowledgement from the City about GACA’s adoption of the Dalhousie South Park.

Action: David will post a copy of the certificate on the website.

Action: Sylvia will follow up with the city about reporting requirements about park clean up, etc.

Website

Following a suggestion made by Morris, David said that GACA now has an Instragram account. He said he will start to organize photos on the site.

Social

Action: Sylvia will check with Morris to see if he sent out the thank-you letters to sponsors of the party in the park.

Planning and development

Sylvia said she received information about developers’ applications, as well as notices of meetings of the Committee of Adjustment. She shares any notices that have a direct impact on the Glebe Annex area.

Sylvia attended a meeting related to a preconsultation pilot project that, in her opinion, is the planning department trying to make nice before an election. This project would see a GACA representative invited to a meeting with the City once a development application is received. Sylvia said that she is currently the designated representative for these meetings. When she asked the City what would happen if she couldn’t attend, they were unable to provide an answer. Another issue is that the community representative is currently not allowed to share any information received at the meeting. This is an issue that the City will have to resolve.

Sylvia reminded the group that there is an all candidates’ meeting scheduled at the Glebe Community Centre on 2 October. She added that the three candidates for Councillor are eager to attend the GACA AGM.

She said that each community association has been asked to come up with two questions to ask at the all candidates’ meeting. Iain said he would recommend asking the mayoral candidates about how they would ensure that there is greater urban representation on the planning committee. Sylvia said a possible question to the councillor candidates is related to park renewal in the inner city. Another question for the mayoral candidates is how they can justify having Fotan work for both the City and the developers.

Lisa said it would also be a good idea to put out a call for questions from the GACA membership. Those questions could be sent to the candidates and their responses could be posted on the GACA website.

Action: Iain will write the planning question and Mary will write the parks question.

Action: Lisa will send out a request for questions along with a reminder regarding the all candidates’ meeting.

Sylvia said the Norman Street development has been approved. The community association in that area has launched an OMB appeal and is looking for donations to help with the appeal.

Sylvia proposed that GACA make a $100 donation for the appeal. Lisa seconded the motion. All were in favour.

Decision: GACA will make a $100 donation to help the Preston Street community association with its OMB appeal.

Action: Iain will contact Maeve to see if there are any Carleton University law students who would be willing to assist with the appeal.

Action: Lisa will include a mention of GACA’s support of the appeal in the Glebe Report article.

New business

Whole Foods’ community outreach

Lisa told the group that she had attended a meeting with people from Whole Foods and had learned about their outreach program. She said that Whole Foods’ employees would be available to help out with community clean up and that Whole Foods seemed willing to donate to events in local communities. Darlene suggested that Whole Foods might be willing to donate plants for the Dalhousie South Park.

Next meeting

The next board meeting is scheduled for 6:30 pm on 15 October at the Glebe Community Centre.

The AGM will be held on 22 October at 6:30 pm in the Eileen Anne Scotton hall (the big hall) at the Glebe Community Centre.

Welcome

Iain welcomed everyone to the meeting. Sylvia introduced Julie Stephens to the Board members; Julie was attending the meeting as an observer.

Approval of the agenda

Chris asked to add a discussion regarding GACA’s contribution to the GCA and Brenda asked to add a discussion about Association membership.

David put forward a motion to accept the agenda; Darlene seconded the motion.

Approval of the previous meeting’s minutes

Maeve said that she had spoken to David Chernushenko about the G-Spot co-operative and he had indicated his support of their initiative. He asked that they contact him; this has not happened as of yet.

Chris put forward a motion to accept the agenda; Maeve seconded the motion.

Business arising from previous minutes

Returning to the discussion about how best to get youth representation on the GACA board, Ron said that his neighbours have indicated interest in joining the Board.

Action: Iain will raise this issue when he speaks to the principal of Glebe Collegiate.

Iain said that the principal of Glebe Collegiate asked that he get in contact with the art teachers at the school about the possibility of the students painting a mural on the Vac Shack. It would be a project for the fall of 2014. The only remaining issue is how to pay for the paint.

Iain told the group that the LED pilot project will go ahead with 30 lights being installed in the neighbourhood, likely beginning in the fall.

Darlene commented about the lack of lighting on MacLean Street. Ron added that the LED project will replace existing light bulbs; it does not cover the installation of new light posts. Darlene said that one of the existing lights on MacLean is covered by a tree that needs to be trimmed.

Action: Sylvia has to call Councillor Chernushenko’s office about another matter; she will tell them about the tree that needs to be trimmed.

Iain told the group that he had contacted the city about traffic issues on Bronson at Powell. He has not heard back from anyone as of yet.

Party in the Park

The group discussed what would be needed for the party in the park and who would be able to provide what. This included barbecues and tables. Morris told the group that the Tim Horton’s Community Cruiser would be at the party with free coffee and TimBits. Morris added that he had dropped off a few sponsorship letters at neighbourhood businesses to test the waters in terms of donations. Morris said his goal is to get donations that will cover the cost of the food and drinks that are needed for the party.

Action: Morris will circulate the sponsorship letter to Board members so that they can approach local businesses.

Discussing the flyers, Iain offered to print the flyers that Board members could drop off at neighbourhood homes.

Action: Brenda will staff the membership table at the party.

Turning to a discussion about what (if anything) to charge for the food, the group decided that if the cost of the food was covered by donations from local businesses, the food would be free (with donations encouraged). This would ensure that the event was accessible to everyone in the community.

Action: Lisa will bring colouring sheets and crayons for a children’s activity table. Ron and David will bring barbecues. Julie and David will bring recycling bins. David and Ron will bring coolers.

Morris said he is waiting to see if there is electricity in the park. The permit from the city to use the park will allow access to electricity if it is available.

Morris put forward a motion for there to be a budget of $100 for this event to be used if necessary. Iain moved the motion and it was seconded by Darlene. The motion passed unanimously.

New business

Bronson redevelopment

Chris and Brenda had attended a meeting hosted by the GCA traffic committee. There had also been a representative there from the Dows’ Lake Community Association. While the redevelopment won’t happen before 2017, the intent of the meeting was to start to brainstorm ideas about what the neighbourhoods would like to see on a redeveloped Bronson. Some great suggestions were put forward at the meeting, including red light cameras, bollards, increased sidewalk widths and the installation of an archway that would help designate the area as a residential community. A public advisory committee on the project will be established after the fall’s municipal elections.

Action: Brenda and Chris will email the brainstorming ideas to the Board once they receive it from the GCA.

Rezoning of Ottawa – June meetings

Rezoning meetings will be held on 17 and 18 June, Sylvia said. The meeting on the 17th is dedicated to the central area, while the 18th is focused on Carling. It is difficult to know where our neighbourhood falls in this, Sylvia said. Sylvia and/or Iain will attend the meeting on the 17th. Sylvia said they will watch to see what the city is thinking regarding intensification of our area. As of now, there is no change in the official plan for our area (i.e., Bronson is a traditional main street and Carling is an arterial route).

265 Carling

There has been no change with 265 Carling since May of last year. Sylvia said she is going to different builders in the area to see how their proposed buildings are selling. It seems like the buildings that are currently on the market are not selling particularly quickly.

Sylvia said that she has been in contact with Diane Francis (a lobbyist/blogger) about intensification in Ottawa. Sylvia will provide her with the material that she has gathered about intensification in Ottawa in the hopes that Diane will write an article about indiscriminate development and its effect on cities.

Liaison with the city

Councillor Chernushenko’s office asked that a working group be formed to move forward with the safety audit and LED project.

Action: Sylvia will provide the Councillor’s office with two names: Darlene and Ron.

GCA has spearheaded a project to host an all-candidate’s meeting for the upcoming municipal election. The tentative date for the meeting is 1 October.

GACA’s AGM is scheduled for five days before the municipal election. Councillor Chernushenko has asked to speak at the meeting. Sylvia said she will extend an invitation to speak to all other declared candidates in our area.

Memberships

GACA has not established a policy for corporate memberships, Darlene said. A corporate membership was recently sold for $100. Iain said that businesses would not buy a membership if they felt the price was too high. He suggested waiting to see what the response was from businesses. If businesses were hesitant to buy a membership, GACA could then revisit the price.

Brenda also raised a question about the duration of any memberships sold at this time of the year. Would they be valid until December 2014 and would the price be prorated? Sue suggested that the memberships be prorated at a certain cut-off point in the year.

Maeve suggested offering a two-year membership for $20.

Treasurer’s report

Chris told the group that GACA owes the GCA $144 ($2 per membership sold). Chris said he would be presenting GCA with the money at their AGM, which is scheduled for 10 June.

Chris added that it would be good to have a fourth Board member with signing authority.

Action: Chris will contact the bank to see what needs to be done to have Iain added as a fourth signatory.

Spring clean up

Iain thanked Darlene for spearheading the spring clean up. Darlene said that 25 compost bags and 28 garbage bags had been collected.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:10pm. The next meeting is scheduled for 7pm on 18 June.

Mary asked to add an item to the agenda, namely a discussion about a letter that she wrote to the City about life-cycle funding for parks. Peggy asked to add a discussion about the repatriation of trees and an initiative that she learned about to celebrate Ottawa’s 150th anniversary.

Peggy put forward a motion to accept the agenda; Chris seconded the motion.

Approval of the previous meeting’s minutes

Ron put forward a motion to accept the agenda; Brenda seconded the motion.

Business arising from previous minutes

Returning to the discussion about how best to get youth representation on the GACA board, Ron said that he sent an email to his neighbour who is the father of both university- and high-school-aged children. Iain said that he has been in touch with Glebe Collegiate. He was told that it would be extremely unlikely that a student would volunteer to serve on the board. Iain is waiting to hear back from Glebe’s principal.

Action: This discussion will be brought forward to the May board meeting.

Maeve told the group that a neighbourhood co-op is trying to start up again. It is called the “g-spot” and it distributes organic food to students at Carleton University on a pay-what-you-can basis. Maeve said she is trying to get in touch with Councillor Cherneshenko to see if he can help.

Iain said that he had also spoken to someone from Glebe Collegiate about the possibility of art students there designing and painting murals on neighbourhood businesses. He said one art teacher is interested in the idea, but would have to hear more specifics about the project. There is also the question of who would pay for the paint. Peggy said she spoke with the owner of the Vac Shack, who is frustrated with the continuing graffiti on his business.

Mary asked what residents can do about properties in the neighbourhood that are not being adequately cared for. Darlene suggested calling the City of Ottawa at 311 and filing a complaint. Peggy added that it might be worthwhile to contact the City’s property standards group because it has an initiative to get landlords to maintain properties. Responding to a comment that it is difficult to know what the standards are, Peggy suggested asking a city specialist to speak at the next AGM about the standards.

Action: Iain will follow up with the City about the status of the LED pilot project.

Action: Peggy will contact Councillor Chernushenko’s office to determine the status of the safety audit.

In terms of the proposed Bronson redevelopment, Iain said that he spoke to the person responsible for this project. He was assured that there would be community consultations. The City is currently in the very early stages of planning for this project.

Action: Iain will follow up with the traffic people at the City about issues around the Powell/Bronson intersection.

Action: Iain will draft a statement about the upcoming municipal election for the GACA website.

New business

On-street parking meter consultations

Action: Lisa will circulate the information that GACA received from the city.

Name change for Dalhousie South park

Action: Further discussion on this item will be tabled until Sylvia returns.

Summer street party

Morris offered to organize the event once a date was selected. While it might take more time to get permission to block off a street, it would be easy to hold the event in the park. We would only have to get permission from the city to hold the event in the park, he said.

Maeve added that this type of event might help recruit new members. Mary offered that her husband could provide some music.

The group decided to hold the party in the park on Saturday, 14 June between 11am and 2pm. We will also hold a street party in the fall.

All that we need to organize are tables and chairs, barbecues, and music.

Lisa suggested that flyers for the party could be distributed during the spring clean-up event.

Action: Morris will develop a flyer for distribution at the spring clean-up. Morris will contact Hartman’s and Abbas about food and/or money donations.

Mary suggested that the party would be a good opportunity for the Association to get feedback from the neighbourhood about how they use the park and what they would like to see in the park. Melanie suggested putting a series of questions on a big roll of paper and having people write down their answers.

Action: Discussion about the details associated with the party will be brought forward to the next meeting.

Spring clean-up

Darlene said the spring clean-up is scheduled for Saturday, 3 May.

History of the neighbourhood

Iain said it would be interesting to develop a history of the neighbourhood. We could draw from the wealth of knowledge that many people in the neighbourhood have about its history.

said that he thought a few of the photos might touch on our neighbourhood’s boundaries.

Action: Ron will follow up about the available photographs.

Action: Iain asked everyone to forward to him the names of people in the neighbourhood who it would be useful for him to contact about the history.

Park redevelopment

Iain said that he was speaking to a friend who lives in Westboro and was told that a park in that neighbourhood was redeveloped without consultation at a cost of $240,000.

Action: Iain will find out more details about this redevelopment and pass them on to Mary.

Great Glebe garage sale

The Glebe Community Association has contacted GACA about our possible involvement in the sale.

Action: After some discussion, the group decided to monitor the flow of traffic in our neighbourhood this year and to discuss our involvement in the months leading up to next year’s sale.

Life-cycle funding for parks

Mary told the group that, following a request from the GCA parks committee, she wrote a letter to the mayor about life-cycle funding for parks.

Action: Mary will circulate the letter to the board for comments.

Repatriation of trees

Peggy told the group that the planned infill project next to her will mean that a few mature trees, including a ginko tree, will have to be removed. She said that she will contact the city to see if the trees could be moved to other locations. Peggy wondered if the Board would be willing to write a letter to the owner about the trees.

Ottawa’s 150th anniversary

There is an initiative as part of the city’s anniversary to plant one million trees. Peggy said that the city wants community involvement in this project.

Action: Peggy will get more information on this initiative and will circulate it to the board.

Welcome

Approval of the agenda

A number of items were added to the agenda, as follows: LED lighting program, community clean-up and block party, and a GCA Parks Committee update.

Chris put forward a motion to accept the agenda; Mary seconded the motion.

Approval of the previous meeting’s minutes

Ron put forward a motion to accept the agenda; Maeve seconded the motion.

Business arising from previous minutes

Iain sent an email to his contact at Glebe Collegiate about possibly getting students involved in painting murals in the neighbourhood in an effort to curtail graffiti. He copied the principal of the high school on the email and is awaiting a response. Iain suggested that he will speak to the owner of the Forno Antico restaurant to see if they regret painting over their mural. If they were interested in getting a new mural painted, GACA could look for sponsorship to purchase the paint.

Iain also mentioned youth outreach to his contact at Glebe Collegiate to see if there would be interest amongst students in joining the board as a youth representative. Mary added that it would be good to get a university student as a representative. Maeve said that the student population in the neighbourhood tends to be more transient. She said that we might identify some interested parties if we put an advertisement up at Abbas.

Action: Ron will email his neighbour who has two school-age children to see if either of them would be interested in sitting on the board as a youth representative.

Lisa and David said that neighbourhood statistics are available at the Census Dissemination Area level from Statistics Canada. Those data are currently used by MLS in their neighbourhood profiles. It would be interesting to have a neighbourhood profile and to compare our data with those from other surrounding areas. That information might help to strengthen our position when we are arguing for the need for more green space, etc. Those data could also support our membership efforts, Iain said. Mary agreed that it would be great to put a demographic profile on the GACA website.

New business

Name change for Dalhousie South Park

Maeve said that she brought this issue up at the last meeting because the name of the park is confusing to people. Brenda suggested calling the park that “Glebe Annex Community Park.” She said it might be a good idea to get in touch with the city to make sure that they aren’t printing up the new sign (with the addition of the fact that GACA has officially adopted the park) in case we are able to change its name.

Action: Brenda will email Sylvia to see if she can contact the city. Iain will bring this forward to the next meeting so that we can brainstorm possible names.

Redevelopment of Bronson

There was an article in the Glebe Report about the proposed redevelopment of Bronson Avenue and the fact that the proposal does not make for a complete street. Iain has called the city to see how GACA could have input into the redevelopment discussion.

Action: Iain will circulate an email to the Board when he hears back from the city.

Mary mentioned that the intersection at Powell and Bronson is a terrible one. There have been many accidents there. It would be wonderful if GACA could have some input into how to make that intersection safer.

Mary suggested that Peggy might be able to get some statistics about accidents at the intersection.

Action: Iain will follow up on this issue and report back to the board.

NRCan development

David reported that he and Maeve had attended an open house hosted by the Preston-Carling Community Association. While there, he was able to speak to city staff about possible developments on the NRCan property. He was told that the current Community Design Plan allows for 19-storey buildings along Rochester Street. He added that he was told that there have been some very low-level discussions between the federal government and city staff about this land. Hopefully GACA will be able to insert itself early into the process (ideally when the land goes to Canada Lands for sale) to make sure that there are provisions in the plan to preserve adequate green space. Iain said it would also be an opportunity to ask for a community centre.

GCA Parks Committee update

Mary said that the GCA Parks Committee has adopted two motions: one to prioritize Dalhousie South Park and the other to request additional funding for life-cycle renewal. The current allotment for life-cycle renewal (which includes tennis courts, pools, etc.) is $1.3 million. Over the next three years, the projected deficit for this renewal work is $81 million. The Chair of the GCA Parks Committee thought it would be beneficial to bring this to the attention of the media. Mary suggested that Sylvia could act as a spokesperson on this issue for GACA.

Action: Mary will draft a letter to the Mayor requesting additional funding and will circulate it to the board for feedback.

Mary said the Parks Committee suggested that someone call 311 to request a fix for seats of the play equipment.

Mary said that the budget for renewing Dalhousie South Park is $210,000; the person she met with earlier in the year said that the work could be done for $25,000.

The city is also looking for locations for new skating rinks, Mary said. She will let the Parks Committee know that Dalhousie South Park is a potential location for a new rink.

Mary added that the Parks Committee has also drafted a motion requesting that Canada Post not use the parks and green spaces to house community mailboxes. Additional discussion about this issue will be on the agenda for the next Parks Committee meeting.

LED lighting program

Possible locations for new LED lights might be found in the safety audit report, Iain said. It will be good to be involved in this project, Iain said, because it will raise GACA’s profile with the city.

Community clean-up and block party

Darlene had circulated a list of possible dates for the community clean-up. The board agreed that 3 May would be the best date.

Iain said that there had been an email from Morris about the possibility of holding a block party in the park. It would be good to hold this party in the summer and to possibly show an outdoor movie.

Action: The board will discuss the possibility of holding a block party at the next meeting.

Mary said the party would be a good opportunity to solicit feedback from the community about what they would like to see in the park. Lisa added that GACA could also develop an online survey about the park redevelopment.

Municipal election

A recent OMB decision was very critical of how the city has handled development. This is an opportunity for GACA to reiterate its concerns about the city’s process, Iain said. This is something that could be raised at the next FCA meeting.

Iain added that the election provides a good opportunity to reach out to potential future members of the Planning Committee about our concerns (even if they are not from our area). One way to get the message out would be to go to every public meeting and ask questions, as follows: “I don’t live in your area, but your decisions on the Planning Committee have had a negative effect on our area.” The issue is also about how people are appointed to the Planning Committee; there are currently no dissenting voices on the committee. Lisa suggested reaching out to neighbouring areas with similar concerns and presenting a united front on this issue. Mary added that GACA could host a networking event around the election.

There was also discussion about whether or not FCA could facilitate this type of discussion. The FCA shouldn’t be threatened by the fact that a group of neighbourhoods in the core are presenting a united voice, Mary said.

Action: Iain will draft a position statement for GACA re development in the community and circulate it to the board for feedback.

There has been an email request for a GACA representative to help organize all-candidates meetings in the area. Sylvia said she will act as the GACA representative unless anyone else wants to take on this role.

Ron put forward a motion to accept the agenda; Maeve seconded the motion.

Approval of the previous meeting’s minutes

Melanie put forward a motion to accept the agenda; David seconded the motion.

Business arising from previous minutes

Action: The request for Mary to access the report related to the last inspection of Dalhousie South Park will be brought forward to the March 2014 Board meeting.

Peggy said it will be important to discuss how best to discourage people from marring building in the neighbourhood with graffiti. This discussion should happen at the Board level, as well as with affected neighbourhood businesses (e.g., Vac Shack). There is a city-sponsored program called “Paint It Up” that funds public art as a way to discourage graffiti.

Action: Peggy will investigate the “Paint It Up” program and see if there is an opportunity to GACA to submit a proposal.

Action: Iain will approach Glebe Collegiate to see if there are students in the art department who might be interested in painting murals on area businesses.

Action: Iain and Peggy will discuss graffiti management and the item will be discussed at the March 2014 Board meeting.

Updating the group on the status of the WISE report, Peggy said she had emailed the organization to see about the status of the final report. She has not heard back from them. In terms of next steps, WISE will share the final report with Councillor Chernushenko and the police. The Councillor has asked to have a few days to review the report before it is released more widely. Lisa suggested writing an article for the Glebe Report about the report’s findings once it is ready for wider distribution.

Ron said that he signed up as a street monitor for McLean Street; however, he is not sure that the reporting function on the web site is working properly. Peggy said the traffic study that was conducted a number of years ago contains width measurements for every street in the neighbourhood. Once we have access to those measurements, it might be worthwhile to send a letter to the Councillor about the current width of the street. The street is so narrow that a garbage truck had to go on a lawn to get around a parked car on the street; this is particularly problematic when one thinks about access for emergency vehicles.

Iain said that he has contacted the city about the possibility of having a skating rink at Dalhousie South Park. There are funds available for this winter; however, it is a bit late in the year to move forward on this right now. He said there are a few options as to how the rink would operate: the city could coordinate the clearing of the rink or a neighbourhood coordinator could get neighbourhood people to do the clearing. Additionally, it will cost $30,000 to get a water source into the park and more funds would be necessary to move the lights from their current position. This is something that we should work toward, Iain said, as part of the overall refurbishment of the park.

David suggested that it might be worthwhile to consult more broadly with the neighbourhood to see what people would like in the park. On that front, Iain said it is necessary to look at neighbourhood demographics and how those demographics are changing. Those data could also be used to strengthen are argument around park refurbishment.

Action: Lisa will investigate the small area data available from Statistics Canada. David will investigate the data available from realtors.

These data could be put into a neighbourhood demographic profile, Lisa said. This also ties into our discussion around the municipal election, Iain said.

New business

Adopt a park

Iain received a note from Sylvia saying that the process is underway for GACA to formally adopt the Dalhousie South Park.

The group discussed what exactly it means to adopt the park in terms of liability and what sort of say GACA could have in the future about changes to the park (planters, etc.).

Municipal election

Action: Iain is drafting a statement for GACA re the neighbourhood’s position on a variety of issues. This statement will be distributed to Board members for comment before it is sent to candidates and other community associations. The statement can also be posted on GACA’s web site.

Iain said that it is important for GACA to move forward on this instead of waiting for direction from the FCA. Having a position paper in place will enable us to approach candidates in a strategic way.

Lisa suggested that it would be good to consult with the neighbourhood to see what their key election issues are. Those issues could be raised at candidates’ meeting and the responses posted on the GACA web site, Iain said.

Ottawa-Carleton Wildlife Service letter

Sue sent Iain a letter from the Ottawa-Carleton Wildlife Service asking people not to pull down squirrel nests.

Action: Iain will forward this letter to Lisa for distribution to the Association membership.

Student housing letter

Iain said that most members of the FCA had signed a letter to the city regarding student housing, specifically modifying existing housing into student accommodations. Maeve said she had stopped by CUSA to see if they had a position on this issue; however, they had not developed one yet.

Maeve added that it would be good to have student representation on the Board. The need for student involvement is something that the Board should investigate further, Iain said. Maeve suggested that it might be possible to tap into the high school volunteering requirement.

Action: Iain will discuss this issue with a Glebe Collegiate teacher who he knows.

Iain said that it is important the city has a plan regarding off-campus student accommodations. The current ad hoc way that things are handled means that, in many cases, students are being exploited by landlords.

Other items for discussion

Peggy said the house next to hers at 319 Powell Avenue has applied to sever the lot and develop part of it. Her concern is that the new house planned for the lot will be built right up to the property line. Peggy will keep the Board informed about development on this site.

David said that Sue will look into plans for developing the NRCan property. The hope is that GACA could exert influence on the various levels of government involved with the hope of ensuring that the site is developed in a way that is truly beneficial to the surrounding neighbourhood.

David informed the group and he and Peggy would be attending the upcoming Preston-Carling Community Design Planning workshop.

Maeve wondered if it would be possible to change the name of the Dalhousie South Park to make it less confusing.

Action: Iain will put this item on the agenda for the March Board meeting.

Welcome

Approval of the agenda

Mary put forward a motion to accept the agenda; Ron seconded the motion.

Approval of the previous meeting’s minutes

Brenda put forward a motion to accept the agenda; Melanie seconded the motion.

Business arising from previous minutes

There was no business arising from the minutes.

New business

Cash in Lieu of Parkland (CILP) Funds

Mary explained that funds are available from the city every year for communities to purchase new park equipment or fund other new park-related initiatives. After speaking to a city employee, Mary said she was directed to a representative from a company called Henderson Play Equipment. Mary met this representative at the Dalhousie South Park and they examined the existing playground equipment, which was installed in 1995. This equipment is in very poor condition, particularly the coil ride-on structures, teeter-totter and slide. The representative suggested that all of the existing equipment be replaced and that the existing excavated park area be re-engineered with wood chips. As this work would not meet the CILP criteria, Mary recommended that GACA ask the city to refurbish the park sooner than the current schedule of 2017. With this in mind, the Glebe Community Association (GCA) Parks Committee drafted a motion at its January meeting describing the current state of the park equipment and requesting a list of all the city parks currently scheduled for refurbishment in 2014. If there is one park on that list that is in better shape than Dalhousie South, GACA would be in a position to challenge the list and request that Dalhousie South be moved up the schedule. Mary added that the GCA Parks Committee has been very helpful and has embraced this issue.

Action: Mary will try to access a copy of the report from the last park inspection.

Other Park-Related Business

Mary told the group that there is a quite complicated grants process that GACA could access through the city.

Action: Anyone interested in pursuing this grant process should bring information to the next GACA Board meeting.

Graffiti Management

Graffiti is often viewed as a “gateway” crime, Mary said. She added that this issue could be raised with our Community Police Officer.

Action: Iain will discuss this issue with Peggy and bring it forward to the next Board meeting.

WISE

Action: An update on the status of the final WISE report will be brought forward to the next Board meeting.

Executive Positions

The following individuals were elected to the Board Executive at the December gathering of the Board:

President: Sylva Milne

Vice-President: Iain Wood

Treasurer: Chris McCann

Secretary: Lisa Furrie

Iain added that there are a number of existing committees that people can become involved with. Individuals can also spearhead the formation of a new committee.

City of Ottawa Planning Course

Morris, Ron and Melanie were all interested in receiving more information about the city planning course.

Action: Iain will send them the link to the course information.

FCA meeting

Iain reported on the December FCA meeting, saying that FCA will be putting pressure on the city to urge them to consult properly on the city’s master planning document.

Snow Bank/Street Reporters

The GCA has started a program where residents report on the state of individual streets throughout the winter. It is looking for volunteers.

Action: Ron will get more information and might sign up to report on McLean Street.

Darlene urged everyone to call 311 to report issues with the neighbourhood.

Skating Rink at Dalhousie South Park

Iain wondered if there was interest in asking the city about putting in a skating rink at Dalhousie South Park. It would require volunteers to maintain the ice. The city would also have to install a water source in the park and might have to improve the lighting.

Action: Iain will investigate what GACA would have to do to have a rink in the park next winter.

Upcoming Municipal Elections

Iain said that it is important for GACA to develop a statement regarding development (that we are pro development as long as it is in keeping with the neighbourhood) and to post it on the Association website. As well, as the election gets closer, GACA should develop a strategy for engaging with the candidates.

David suggested doing a media scan and posting links to related articles on the GACA website.

Lisa suggested developing a brief community-specific questionnaire for candidates and to post their responses on the GACA website. Iain added that we could ask the community to input into the development of the questions.

Fire in the Community

After discussing the recent fire on Cambridge Street, the Board said it would be good to have a Board representative who could contact affected individuals to see if there is anything that the Association could do to help. We could solicit donations through the GACA website and our mailing list, if necessary. Melanie suggested that we could contact the Red Cross or Salvation Army to see how GACA could assist these organizations in the event of fires, etc. in our community.

Action: Iain will contact the GCA to see how it handles these types of incidents. Melanie will contact the Red Cross and Salvation Army to see how GACA could be of assistance.